


The One That Got Away

by CelestialVoid



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dads, Alternate Universe - Grown Up, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst and Feels, Boys Kissing, Deputy Stiles Stilinski, Drunken Kissing, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Mutual Pining, Past Abuse, Past Kate Argent/Derek Hale, Past Relationship(s), Pining, Pining Derek, Pining Derek Hale, Pining Stiles, Pining Stiles Stilinski, Single Parent Derek Hale, Single Parent Stiles Stilinski, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 07:43:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16471565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelestialVoid/pseuds/CelestialVoid
Summary: Stiles and Derek were childhood friends, but everything changed the night they shared a drunken kiss. After that, they grew apart. Until years later, when they are reunited at a parent-teacher conference





	The One That Got Away

Stiles doesn’t know what it was that made him think back to high school, but lately his memories had been drawn back to the nigh of Lydia’s party, when someone had spied the punch and he had ended up in the shadows behind the house, kissing Derek Hale.

The memory was still so vivid even after all these years. He could still remember the chatter from the party and the sweet smell of petrichor that filled the air that night. He could still remember how soft Derek’s lips were, how eager the kiss was. He could still remember the taste of punch of Derek’s lips and the warmth of his hands as the slid under the hem of Stiles’ shirt. And he remembers the sickening feeling of shame as Derek pulled away from him, saying it could never happen again before disappearing into the party. He could still remember the tears and the heartbreak, how it felt to lose his childhood friend.

In the weeks that followed, Derek drew more distant. Stiles came out as bisexual and Derek started dating Paige—insisting he’s straight. For weeks, Derek wouldn’t even look him in the eye. And it went on like that until the Hale house fire, after which, Peter took his nephew and nieces to New York and Stiles didn’t hear from Derek again.

Time passed, but Stiles never forgot about Derek, or that drunken kiss.

As the years dragged on, Stiles followed in his father’s footsteps and became a deputy in the Beacon Hills police. That’s how he met Boyd.

Boyd was three years old when he witnessed his parent’s murder. It was a robbery gone wrong. When Stiles and the other deputies arrived on scene, they found the family’s bodies strewn across the living room, blood splattered everywhere. Stiles found a broken family photo and realised that one of the kids was missing. He started to search the house, only to find the toddler hiding in one of the kitchen cabinets, his face streaked with tears.

Boyd had no other relatives, so he was put in police protective custody until the case was solved, and after that Stiles fostered him. A year later, Stiles adopted him.

He grew up shy and reserved, at least until the day Stiles picked him up from school and he couldn’t stop talking about his new friends: Isaac and Erica. Boyd went on and on about how pretty Erica was and how friendly Isaac was.

Stiles couldn’t help but smile at how happy Boyd was, and he didn’t have the heart to say no when the boy begged him to meet Isaac and Erica’s dad to set up a play date.

That’s how he ended up at the parent-teacher conference. Boy let go of his hand and ran over to Erica and Isaac the second he saw them.

Stiles smiled as he watched his son hug the twins. But his joy was short-lived as their father stepped around the corner of the hallway.

It was as if he was seeing a ghost.

He was smiling at the kids who stood at his feet, his son still holding onto his hand as Isaac talked to Boyd. The man’s beige skin was as perfect as ever and he had grown into his stern features; his square jaw and high cheekbones. His hair was dark and thick, tousled by the wind. His jaw was covered in a short beard and his wide-set eyes were pale beneath his dark brows, the aventurine irises catching the light and shifting from hazel to green, to a shade of light blue – clear, bright and focused.

He wore the same old black leather jacket he had years ago, a pair of slim black jeans, and a forest green Henley that was fitted over his body, the buttons opened to reveal a glimpse of dark chest hair.

Derek.

“No freaking way,” Stiles muttered to himself as he dug his hands into the pockets of his BHPD windbreaker and made his way down the hallway.

“Dad!” Boyd called, rushing back over to hug Stiles.

Stiles braced himself as Boyd wrapped his arms around his legs, hugging his son back. Boyd grabbed his hand, dragging him over to meet Isaac and Erica. Stiles crouched before the twins, smiling sweetly as he said hello to them.

Erica held her hand out and introduced herself, but Isaac lingered by Derek’s calf, holding onto the hem of his dad’s leather jacket.

Stiles rose to his feet, smiling as he met Derek’s gaze.

Derek was staring back at him with eyes wide in shock. His jaw hung open as he stared at the young man.

“Stiles?” he gasped.

“Hey, Derek,” Stiles greeted, offering the man a kind smile. “How have you been?”

“Good,” Derek replied. He dropped his gaze, hiding the pain that darkened his eyes. He looked down at Isaac, gently patting back the boy’s sandy-blonde curls. He looked back at Stiles. “How about you?”

“Yeah,” Stiles muttered, feeling the ache in his chest, the same one he had felt that night when Derek had walked away from him and left him in the shadows of the house. “Good.”

Derek’s eyes wandered over Stiles’ body, drinking in the sight of his broad shoulders, the way he had grown into his slim limbs. The standard-issue khaki shirt was stretched across Stiles’ broad chest, the fabric tucked into the waistband of his pants which sat low on his slender hips.

“You look great,” Derek said, struggling to regain his composure.

“So do you,” Stiles replied, smiling as he cocked an eyebrow. “New York did you good.”

Derek’s face fell. He glanced down at Isaac, gently running his fingers through the boy’s hair.

Stiles’ brow furrowed as he studied Derek’s face. For years, he was the only person who could read Derek’s reserved emotions; he always knew what Derek was thinking, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

“What’s going on, Der?” Stiles asked.

Derek let out a soft laugh. “It’s been a while since I’ve been called that,” Derek admitted, avoiding the topic. He looked up at Stiles, a smile quirking the corner of his lips. “It’s good to hear it again.”

Stiles let out a heavy sigh. He looked down at the kids that hovered around their legs, smiling as he asked, “Do you guys want to go out onto the playground?”

Boyd and Erica nodded excitedly. Erica reached out for her twin’s hand, gently prying her brother away from their dad as the three of them went running down the hall and out into the evening light.

Stiles and Derek followed after them, sitting down on one of the benches beside the brightly coloured playground.

A moment of quiet settled between them as they watched the kids play. “What’s going on, Derek?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you come back?” Stiles asked. “You had a life in New York, so why did you come back?”

“For them,” he nodded towards his kids. He let out a heavy sigh, bracing his elbows against his knees. “I guess I should explain from the start. When I moved to New York, I married Kate.”

“Kate Argent?” Stiles asked, his stomach twisting.

“I was stupid and naïve,” Derek said through gritted teeth, pain darkening as he scolded himself. “One thing led to another and she fell pregnant with the twins. When they were born, her whole attitude changed, for the worse. She would get angry at the smallest things. I tried to step in where I could, but she’d take it out on them when I wasn’t there.”

He paused for a moment, watching as his kids ran about the playground, climbing up the ladders and sliding down the bright blue plastic slide.

“Isaac took the brunt of it,” Derek explained. “He did everything he could to protect Erica, but it took its toll. I called the cops on Kate and she’s on trial for neglect and abuse, but she’s been threatening to kill them. I had to get them away from her; I had to keep them safe.”

He dragged his hands down his face, and Stiles noticed the dark, sleepless bags under his eyes.

“I didn’t know where to go,” Derek admitted. “I’d go to the ends of the earth if it meant I could keep them safe.”

“Do you still have my phone number?” Stiles asked.

Derek looked at him, frowning at the question. “Yeah, I do. Why?”

“I still have the same number,” Stiles explained. “If she shows up, call me directly. I’ll be there in minutes.”

A soft smile lifted Derek’s lips, a sense of relief washing over him. “Thank you.”

Stiles nodded. He watched as Boyd covered his eyes and slowly counted to ten while Erica and Isaac spit to hide.

Isaac ran over to them, crouching behind the bench they sat on, giggling to himself.

It was the sweetest sound.

Derek’s expression brightened, his heart aching as he listened to his son’s laughter.

“Ready or not, here I come!” Boyd shouted as he started looking around the playground for his friends.

“You know, I never forgot,” Derek said quietly.

“Forgot what?”

“Lydia’s party,” Derek said. “Our kiss.”

“Oh,” Stiles said, feeling nausea twist his stomach. “That.”

“I don’t regret it,” Derek said. “But I do regret walking away. I regret pretending like it didn’t happen.” He turned to look at Stiles. “You were the best thing that ever happened to me, and I walked away.”

Stiles let out a heavy sigh. “Derek-” he started.

“I’m sorry,” the man said quietly. “I didn’t mean to bring up the past. You’ve probably moved on; got someone else in your life.”

“I don’t,” Stiles admitted.

Derek turned to look at him, shocked by this revelation. “Really?”

“I never really moved on from you,” Stiles admitted. “I adopted Boyd after he was orphaned, and he’s been my whole world ever since. I did try dating, but they never understood that Boyd was and always will be my first priority.”

Derek let out a breathless chuckle. “The struggles of being a single dad.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Stiles admitted, smiling as he watched Boyd walk in circles, his face creased in confusion as he tried to find his friends.

Isaac peeked around the corner of the bench. His face was twisted in pity as he stood up from his hiding spot and ran over to Boyd.

“You’re meant to stay hidden,” Boyd told him, his voice gentle.

Isaac didn’t care; he ran over to his friend and threw his arms around Boyd’s shoulders.

Moments later, Erica emerged from behind a tree a few meters away, scolding her brother before coming over to join them.

Both Stiles and Derek burst into laughter.

“You’re right,” Derek said after a moment. “Despite everything, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The kids came running over to their side. Isaac clambered up onto his dad’s lap, curling up in Derek’s arms as Erica stood beside Boyd, looking up at Derek with puppy eyes. “Daddy, can Boyd please come over to pay tomorrow? _Please_?”

Derek couldn’t help but smile.

“I don’t know,” he teased, turning to look at Stiles. “What do you say?”

Stiles pretended to think about it before yielding. “Alright.”

Erica looked back at her dad, her face lit with excitement. She let out a squeal of excitement when Derek nodded in agreement.

Derek fought to smother his laughter. He gave Stiles his new address and wrapped his arms around Isaac, holding the boy close to his chest as he rose to his feet. He offered his other hand to Erica and told the twins to say goodbye.

Isaac mumbled goodbye, his face buried in Derek’s shirt as he waved to Boyd.

Erica rose onto her toes and pressed a kiss to Boyd’s cheek, whispering goodbye before taking her dad’s hand and heading to the car park.

Boyd called after them, waving goodbye as they left. When they were gone, he turned to look at Stiles. “Do you like Erica and Isaac’s dad?”

“Yeah, I do,” Stiles said.

“Do you _like_ like him?” Boyd asked, smiling at his dad.

“Yeah,” Stiles admitted before he could think better of himself. “I still do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry, they definitely end up together in the end.
> 
> celestialvoid-fanfiction.tumblr.com


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